Budgeting worksheet

We’ve created an easy tool you can use to make your own budget.

This worksheet has been put together for undergraduate students to figure out how much they’ll need to pay for a year at MIT, how much for other expenses, and how that stacks up against income from jobs, financial aid, and family or caregiver contributions.

Getting started

Before you begin, make sure you have a few items on hand:

A list of your billed charges related to MIT

A list of your personal expenses

A list of your personal resources, such as savings and estimated earnings

Your financial aid award information. If you’re a current student, you can access this through the MIT Online Financial Aid System. If you’re a prospective first-year student, you can access this through the MyMIT portal.

Things to remember

Listed costs are for the 2019–20 academic year where available. The cost of housing, meals, and health insurance have not been finalized for the 19–20 academic year. In these instances, we have used the 2018–19 costs for estimating purposes.

If a number is highlighted in red, it is above what we have included in the standard budgeting.

If green, it is within the expected budget.

At the end of section 2, we recommend a monthly amount to pay to cover the difference between your educational expenses and your financial aid.

At the end of section 4, we estimate the amount of additional money you will need to cover personal expenses, or the amount of excess left over when expenses are covered.

Section 1 - Billed charges

Tuition $

Student Life Fee $

Dorm

Please enter your off campus housing costs in section 3.

$9,890 is the number we use for budgeting purposes. $9,890 is the price of the most expensive double room, for the 18–19 academic year.

Room Type

Room Cost $

Cultural House

House Tax $

Meal Plan

Meal Plan Cost $

Health Insurance

Health Insurance Cost $

Tech cash charged to student account $

Other billed charges $

Total billed charges $

Section 2 - Financial aid crediting to bill

MIT Scholarship $

Pell Grant $

SEO Grant $

Outside Scholarships $

TOTAL Subsidized Stafford Loan $

amount received after fee$

TOTAL Unsubsidized Stafford Loan $

amount received after fee$

TOTAL PLUS Loan $

amount received after fee$

MIT Technology Loan $

Other Loans $

Total aid against charges $

Student account refund $

Money owed MIT $

Consider the MIT Monthly Payment Plan* $

*The MIT Monthly Payment Plan is an alternative to paying your bill in one lump sum. You can pay your bill in monthly installments, interest-free. Installments begin with the first bill in June and are spread over 10 months. There is an enrollment fee to join the payment plan.

Section 3 - Money needed for living expenses

Off campus housing $

Enter if living off campus

Meals (other than meal plan) $

Books $

$820 is number we budget for books and supplies. This indirect cost will vary from student to student, but we use this number to calculate your financial aid eligibility.

Personal/additional expenses $

We budget $2,160 for personal expenses for the academic year. You can expand the personal expenses calculator below to see if you will need more than that. If you calculate anything more than $2,160, it will be reflected above.